March 25, 2015. Posted by Tim Wilkins.

I learned today Soweto is an acronym for South West Townships. It’s a sprawling, culturally rich and economically diverse collection of communities. With well over a million people, Soweto makes up half of the population of Johannesburg.

“The Soweto Uprising” began on June 16, 1976 when Hector Peterson, only 12 years old, was killed when South African police fired into a crowd of students.

Over the next two days, perhaps as many as 1200 more black Africans were killed -- 89 under the age of 20 and 12 under the age of 7.

The students had gathered to protest the State’s declaration that Afrikaans be the official language of instruction in African schools.

This now-iconic image of Hector being carried by 18-year-old Mbuyasi Makhubo was taken by news photographer Sam Nzima, and provoked an international outcry.

Both were forced into hiding because of harassment by the police. The young girl is in the photo is Hector’s 17 year old sister, Antoinette. She later worked at this museum as a guide.

Our day includes a delicious lunch at Chez Alina, one of the many thriving businesses in Soweto.

Alina set up the restaurant in her home. The walls are covered in works of art. We dine to the sounds of a jazz trio brought in especially for our WBGO group. Good food, good music – everyone is all smiles.

Visitors are randomly assigned tickets as “white” or “non-white,” then must enter through separate turnstiles, as was the practice under the now-defunct Apartheid laws.

The museum offers vivid and heart-wrenching details of Apartheid’s dehumanizing and violent history. It also turns the page to the new era ushered in by Nelson Mandela in 1994. Mandela was a beloved leader and is the father of the “Rainbow Nation” we see today.

There’s a wall where Apartheid Museum visitors are encouraged to write how they’re going to make a world a better place, in memory of Mandela.

WBGO's Simon Rentner asks Shirley Hatcher, a member of our group, what she wrote on the wall. She emotionally responds that “She’s home” - and that she’ll share the museum’s lessons with her children.

The memory of Mandela – or Madiba, as he was affectionately known - is everywhere. We visit the Soweto home he briefly shared with his wife Winnie after his release from prison in 1990. A few blocks away, there’s the home of another Nobel Peace Prize winner - Archbishop Desmond Tutu!

Mandela gave his first speech after his release from prison at Johannesburg's FNB Stadium. In 2013, his memorial service was also held at this site.

Completed in 1989, it is also known as Soccer City, and was renovated and expanded 20 years later to accommodate the World Cup. Locals call it “The Calabash” because its shape resembles an African gourd.

You have to see this stadium in person to appreciate its massiveness. It’s the largest in Africa, and seats almost 100,000.